Homeworking Franchise Opportunities

Real Business:

Quick growth, committed workers, help with cash flow – franchising offers entrepreneurs all the benefits with none of the downsides.

Gill Thomas’s musical playgroup, Jo Jingles, is a network of franchisees that holds music and dance classes for preschool children. Although the classes are held in hired rooms in community centres, village halls or schools, the organisation and paperwork is completed at the franchisees’ own homes.

Thomas started out on her own, having left her job as a national sales manager for Clarks shoes in the early nineties when she had children. Eager to earn cash, she taught music to preschoolers in her hometown of Beaconsfield. In 1995, she decided to franchise Jo Jingles.

Her core task is to ensure her franchisees are capable of running a business. ‘They may be good at holding classes, but they need to grasp the importance of financial planning.’ The secret to making the concept work, says Thomas, is training franchisees to be as strong with a balance sheet as they are in the classroom. ‘Our training starts with 5 days of instruction. We then insist on one-to-one training with a financial mentor who teaches them about profit and loss, cash flow and forecasting. They also have the opportunity to meet other franchisees to pick up tips. The training continues after they’ve got the franchise up and running, with regional training days.’ Read more.